Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Curl returns to his norm at UA
FAYETTEVILLE — Kamren Curl’s new position is his old one.
Curl, a sophomore at the University of Arkansas, is back at safety after starting 11 games at cornerback last season in place of the injured Ryan Pulley.
As a senior at Muskogee (Okla.) High School, Curl was rated as the top safety in Oklahoma by Scout and No. 41 nationally at the position by Rivals.
Curl is working as firstteam
strong safety in camp for the Razorbacks after moving from cornerback in the spring.
“It’s going pretty good at safety,” Curl said. “It’s really come natural since I played it in high school.”
With Pulley healthy again after recovering from a pectoral injury and sophomore Chevin Calloway moving into the other starting cornerback spot, Arkansas’ new coaching staff made the decision to play Curl at safety.
“I looked at the film from last year when we first came in, and we asked ourselves, ‘How do we get our best 11 on defense out there on the field?’ ” said Arkansas assistant Ron Cooper, who is coaching the safeties and nickel backs. “In order to do that we felt like Kam’s position should be safety.”
Curl, 6-2, has added 12 pounds since last season with the help of strength and conditioning coach Trumain Carroll and is up to 201.
“I’m going to be in the box more helping with the run, so I had to put on some weight,” Curl said. “It feels good, too, and I’m even faster at this weight than I was last year.”
Pulley said Curl did a good job at cornerback, but safety is his natural spot.
“Kam’s a safety, everybody knows that,” Pulley said. “He did what he had to do at cornerback when I went down, but this move to safety is really going to help him and the team.
“I think Kam’s going to be one of the best safeties in the SEC. He’s a playmaker and a ball hawk. Wherever the ball’s at, he’s finding it.”
Fifth-year senior Santos Ramirez is a returning starter at the other safety spot. He has 25 career starts.
“Santos is the general back there,” Pulley said. “He’s smart and knows the defense like the back of his hand. He knows where to be, he knows when to be there, and he knows how to be there. He takes control of everything.”
Ramirez, 6-2 and 204 pounds, had 63 tackles, 3 forced fumbles and 1 interception last season.
“I’ve been around a lot of great guys in the secondary over my career, and Santos is up there with the best as far as leadership and want-to and attitude,” Cooper said. “Our young guys told me how much he taught them over the summer.
“Santos is big, strong and can run, and he understands the scheme completely — what’s happening up front and with the linebackers and the cornerbacks.
“That helps you become the best player you can be when you know what’s going on all around you.”
Arkansas defensive coordinator John Chavis said he’d love to have players at every position who have Ramirez’s skills and experience.
“He’s a guy that makes your football team better,” Chavis said. “He’s a guy that we can’t afford to lose.”
Ramirez said Curl is doing a good job as the replacement for Josh Liddell, who started 12 games at safety last season and is in training camp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“There hasn’t been any drop-off with Kam at safety,” Ramirez said. “He really understands
what safeties have to do and has embraced the move.
“I feel like our chemistry is very good together. We both do a great job of coming down and playing the run, and we can play coverage as well.”
Curl had 46 tackles and 8 pass breakups last season when he played 690 snaps.
“It really helped me being thrown into the fire last year,” he said. “It matured me and helped me learn how fast the game really goes. That’s going to help me a lot this year.”
Redshirt freshman Micahh Smith, and true freshmen Joe Foucha and Myles Mason are working as the backup safeties. Foucha also can play cornerback and nickel back.
”Those young guys are really coming along,” Ramirez said. “I think we’re going to have pretty good depth.”
Cooper said Curl’s coverage skills from his time at cornerback are key to the defensive scheme.
“Kam is a good tackler, but you can’t just put tacklers out there at safety, because the offense isn’t putting three tight ends and a fullback out there,” Cooper said. “They’re putting three wideouts on the field 90 percent of the time.
“So your safeties have to be able to play man coverage or — if you’re blitzing the nickel back — be able to play zone.”